Recommended Software
Key
$ = 1–49 USD
$$ = 50–99 USD
$$$ = 100–200 USD
$$$$ = more than 200 USD
Plain text editor
BBEdit
macOS • Free! ($$ for additional features)
Notepad++
Windows • Free! (& open source)
Kate
Linux, Windows, & macOS • Free! (& open source)
Text editor for coding
Visual Studio Code
macOS, Windows, & Linux • Free! (& open source)
Textastic
iOS (iPad only) • $
WYSIWYG HTML editor (not recommended)
Macromedia Dreamweaver
macOS & Windows • $–$$$
Blue Griffon
macOS, Windows, & Linux • Free! (& open source)
HTML formatter
HTML Tidy
macOS, Windows, & Linux • Free! (& open source)
XML editor
XMLmind XML Editor (Standard Edition)
macOS, Windows, & Linux • Free!
Graphics creation & manipulation
Adobe Photoshop
macOS & Windows • $–$$$$
Pixelmator Pro
macOS & iOS • $
Paint.NET
Windows • Free!
GIMP
Linux, Windows, & macOS • Free! (& open source)
Photopea
Web-based • Free!
Measure pixels on screen
xScope
macOS * $
Screen Ruler
Windows • Free!
ScreenRuler (KDE) or kruler (KDE)
Linux • Free! (& open source)
Color picker
Sip
macOS • $
PowerToys (look for Color Picker)
Windows • Free!
Pick
Linux • Free! (& open source)
Conversion
Permute
Images, videos, & audio
macOS • $15
Adapter
Images, videos, & audio
macOS & Windows • Free!
Handbrake
Videos
macOS, Windows, & Linux • Free! (& open source!)
Freemake Video Converter
Windows • Free!
Offline documentation
Dash
macOS • $
Zeal
Windows, Linux, & macOS • Free! (& open source)
File transfer
Do not use FileZilla, as it is a UI nightmare.
ForkLift (manage local files too!)
macOS • $
Transmit
macOS • $
WinSCP
Windows • Free! (& open source)
Cyberduck
macOS & Windows • Free! (& open source)
Konqueror & GNOME Files
Free! (& open source) • Free! (& open source)
FE File Explorer
iOS (iPhone & iPad) & Android • $
Terminal Emulator
iTerm2
macOS • Free! (& open source)
Apple’s Terminal app is fine, but iTerm is better.
Windows Terminal
Windows • Free! (& open source)
Prompt
iOS • $
Web browser
I do not recommend Google Chrome, as it is a privacy nightmare. Instead, I recommend Brave, which is exactly like Chrome except it’s incredibly private & secure.
Brave
macOS, Windows, & Linux • Free! (& open source)
Mozilla Firefox
macOS, Windows, & Linux • Free! (& open source)
Konqueror
Linux • Free! (& open source)
Spark
macOS, iOS, & Android • Free!
Mozilla Thunderbird
macOS, Windows, & Linux • Free (& open source!)
Office suite
I cannot recommend Google Workspace (formerly Google Docs & G Suite) for privacy reasons.
Apple Pages, Numbers, & Keynote
macOS, iOS, & online • Free!
LibreOffice
macOS, Windows, & Linux • Free! (& open source)